Mortal Danger
by NikkieSheepie
Summary: Jack and Ianto end up in a perilous situation when Jack decides to get Ianto out of the hub for a while. STAND ALONE - My answer to cliff hangers.
1. Cliff

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing here is mine if you recognise it from Torchwood. Which means everything but the plot line really...

**A/N:** An explaination; if people have been lucky enough to have me comment on their work (I know, I'm just so marvellous... *ahem*) then you'll probably have had me moaning about the cliffhangers on this site! So, here is my solution to all that! Enjoy!

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Cliff

Jack Looked at Ianto, Ianto looked at Jack. They were in trouble and they knew it. It was all because Jack had decided to show off, and look who was paying the price for it now. Ok, so they were technically both in danger of dying but it wasn't really the same. Jack would die but be walking around in a few hours time as if nothing had happened. Ianto would die. End of story.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" asked an exasperated Ianto as he shuffled his hands to get a better grip on the one thing keeping him alive.

"Because you knew it'd be fun." grinned Jack, his usual reassuring grin had lost a bit of its dazzle since he'd gotten them into this rather perilous situation. "Well be OK, don't you worry, I'm sure someone's on the way to get us out of this mess as we speak."

"And who would that someone be Jack? No-one knew we were here!" grunted Ianto as he tried desperately to pull himself out of danger.

"Ianto, stop trying to pull yourself up, you're only loosening the soil around the roots and slipping further down. Carry on like that and Owen'll be scraping you off the floor like a lump of squidgy jam."

Ianto gently lowered himself back into his helpless position hanging from a tree over the edge of a cliff in a remote area of Wales. "We're god-knows-where, hanging over some cliff hoping that a half dead tree doesn't give way. I kinda have the feeling that Owen'll be scraping me off the rocks below no matter how long I hold onto this bloody tree." retorted Ianto somewhat sarcastically.

"On the brightside, this should be getting those arms of yours a bit more into shape." replied Jack.

Ianto sighed, "I don't think you quite grasp the seriousness of my situation sir," began Ianto, placing a large emphasis on the sir before continuing, "while you can let go, hit the floor with a bang and walk away, I can't. I hit that floor with a bang and there's no more Ianto Jones."

Jack became serious. "I know Ianto, and trust me, I don't want that to happen. Just, listen to what I tell you to do alright? Like you said, if I fall it doesn't matter, the main thing is to make sure that you go up, not down. If that means I have to fall then so be it."

Ianto smiled a sad smile before nodding. It always hurt him to see Jack die but at least he was safe in the knowledge that he would come back eventually. That was, provided his luck didn't run out.


	2. Date?

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing here is mine if you recognise it from Torchwood. Which means everything but the plot line really...

**A/N:** So I guess you've worked out my solution here. If there must be cliffhangers then dangle someone over the edge of a cliff and make it a reall cliff hanger!

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Date?

Earlier…

Jack bounced out of his office and over to Ianto as he made the afternoon coffee. He placed his arms round his waist from behind and rested a chin on the younger man's shoulder. "I'm bored." he announced, "there's no weevils to chase and Tosh recons the rifts gone to sleep for a while."

Ianto carried on making the coffee, determined to ignore his boss's obvious attempts to draw him away. "What do you want me to do about it sir? Release Janet so you have something to chase?"

"Tempting but no." said Jack as he moved away from Ianto slightly. "I was thinking more like taking some time out, you and me."

"Like a date?" Ianto looked away from his coffee for the first time.

Jack smiled, "If that's what you want to call it. I'm sure the team can manage without us for one afternoon. If anything comes up we'll have our mobiles on us and we can come straight back." He quickly dismissed Ianto's arguments before they could be formed, determined that if the pair of them were going to make anything of this relationship past a casual shag then they needed alone time, preferably outside of the hub.

Ianto turned back to his coffee as he poured out five mugs and loaded them onto the tray. There must be some excuse to get him out of this. Unless it was a nice meal in a restaurant (which was awkward enough) the chances were that Jack's date would either be dangerous or unimaginably uncomfortable, or both.

Jack stood blocking Ianto's path as he turned with the coffee laden tray. "Come on Ianto, you've been slaving away in here for far too long. Time to go out and have a bit of fun. Please?"

Ianto sighed, "alright, let me deliver these coffee's first then you can tell me what your devious mind has come up with this time."

Jack moved his feet around against the cliff-face gently as he looked for even the slightest jut in the rock. Satisfied he'd found enough of a foot hole to keep him at the top of the cliff he chanced moving his left hand and tapping his headset. "Owen? Gwen? Tosh?"

Ianto meanwhile was trying to straighten each finger in turn as cramp began to set in. "Tell whoever answers to be quick about it." He said to Jack half jokingly. His hands were burning and his arms felt like they were being wrenched out of the shoulder joint. He chanced a look down and instantly regretted it. "Did I ever tell you that I'm somewhat uncomfortable with heights?"


	3. Kite

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing here is mine if you recognise it from Torchwood. Which means everything but the plot line really...

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone favoriting/placing alerts on this story, obviously you're enjoying it! Could I please ask that you also review? It helps me to grow as a writer and write better stories for you to read! (Sorry for the moan)

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Kite

"Can I take this damn blindfold off yet Jack?" whined Ianto for the tenth time in as many minutes.

Jack smiled to himself, "I'll tell you when you can take it off alright? I've gotta get something out of the trunk, you stay here and keep that blindfold on." With that Jack slipped out of the car leaving Ianto alone with his thoughts.

A few minutes later and Ianto felt Jack open the car door and guide him gently out and around the car. Jack untied the makeshift blindfold and allowed Ianto to take in his surroundings.

"Wow! That's a hell of a view Jack." said an astonished Ianto moving towards the cliff edge the SUV had stopped near to. A wondrous view of the surrounding countryside greeted him, along with a cold wind. "Blinking windy up here." He complained as he pulled his suit jacket closed across his front.

"I know, that's the point. That's why I brought us here, so we could use this." Jack ended with a flourish as he produced a large bag from the back of the SUV and dumped it on the floor.

Ianto looked at the bag then back at Jack. "A bag?"

"Its what's in the bag dopey." replied Jack sarcastically.

Ianto was thoroughly enjoying himself, much to his surprise. The wind pulling the kite around unpredictably against the flawless backdrop of the welsh countryside. Of course, just as Ianto began to relax and enjoy himself things changed for the worst. A huge gust of wind caught the kite pulling Ianto towards the wonderful countryside beyond the edge of the cliff.

"Jack!" he yelled as he felt himself being lifted ever so slightly off the floor. He almost instantly felt a strong pair of arms grab him around the waist adding his weight onto the bottom of the kite. Even this wasn't enough, the wind continued to blow fiercely, dragging the pair of them closer to the cliff edge.

"Unhook it! Quickly!" shouted Jack over the din of the wind rustling the canopy of the kite, and the deafening effect it had as is rushed past both men's ears.

Ianto rushed to obey, unhooking the huge kite from the harness as fast as his fumbling fingers would allow, all the while the pair were dragged closer to the sharp drop. Ianto tugged the last clip free and the kite vanished off into the sky spinning the two men round and throwing them onto the floor as it done so. Then the fragile cliff face began to crumble, taking its victims with it.

Ianto noticed a tickle of dirt falling from just above the tree root he was desperately clinging onto some time ago. Now however he noticed a somewhat larger trickle of soil and stones falling past him. "Jack. This root isn't going to hold much longer."

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Kite


	4. Just Hanging Around

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing here is mine if you recognise it from Torchwood. Which means everything but the plot line really...

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone favoriting/placing alerts/reviewing!

"Gwen, Owen, Tosh! Someone answer me dammit!" shouted Jack into his ear piece. For once the great Captain Jack Harkness was ready to admit that he needed help, and quickly. Even if he gave his more sturdy spot to Ianto and fell to his death below, there was very little chance he'd revive in time to be able to help Ianto.

Ianto was searching the area around him but there was nothing but bare rock and with the odd fungi or lichen covering areas of it. While at any other time Ianto might find the patterns this created interesting, right now he was too busy looking for anything he could get a decent hold of.

"They're not answering! None of them!" reported Jack as he finally gave up trying to contact anyone.

"Yeah, I kinda got that." came Ianto's sarcastic reply. A small squeak of surprise escaped his lips as the tree root he was clinging to suddenly shifted, Ianto's weight causing it to loosen further, sending a new wave of dirt rolling down the cliff face.

Jack grabbed hold of the shoulder of Ianto's suit jacket in a desperate attempt to stop him falling. "Is there a foot hole anywhere?" he asked desperately. He knew the younger man must have already thought about this but it was about the most useful thing he could think to say.

"You don't think I've already looked? It's as flat as… a flat thing. No foot holes anywhere!" Ianto yelled at Jack rather more harshly then he would have liked. He was stressed, being on the verge of falling some huge distance to your death tends to do that to people. He'd apologise later.

Jack let go of Ianto's jacket momentarily while he shuffled himself along his lifeline. As close to the end of the branch supporting him as he dared before getting a firm grip on the harness which not long ago had been attached to the kite which got them into this situation in the first place. "I'm not letting you go Ianto Jones. Not until you are being pulled back up onto the grass up there." He smiled a sad but reassuring smile at his friend, no, his love.

"I've got a huge rift spike in the country guys. Along with some odd weather patterns." Called Toshiko from her work station.

Gwen was the first to join the smaller woman at the computer, looking at the screen which to anyone else would look like a collection of lines and colours. "What is that? Strong winds in just that one spot?"

"It better not be those blasted fairies again." Grumbled Owen as he came up from the autopsy room to take a look at the readings, snapping off his latex gloves as he did so.

Toshiko shook her head. "Doesn't have the same energy patterns as the fairies. At a guess," she paused as she rattled away at the keyboard, "its simple a rip in the fabric of space between here and somewhere with bloody strong winds."

"I'll call Jack and tell him what going on." said Gwen, tapping her ear piece as she moved back to her own workstation to finish her previous task. "Jack? Ianto?"

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Just Hanging Around


	5. Eye Of The Storm

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing here is mine if you recognise it from Torchwood. Which means everything but the plot line really...

**A/N:** Much love to everyone reading, reviewing etc. As always it is much appreciated!  
Around abouts 2 more chapters to go!

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Eye of the Storm

After trying in vain to get hold of Jack and Ianto and being unable to get a trace on the SUV's tracker the team decided to go take a look themselves. It was too big a spike to simply ignore even if it did only seem to be weather coming through. So upon arriving in the middle they were a little surprised to see the SUV already there. Their surprise grew into confusion then fear when they two men where nowhere to be seen, or heard.

"Jack? Ianto?" called Gwen as she moved slowly around the area. She was having trouble staying upright, especially if she turned into the wind, wherever this was coming from they were in the middle of a hell of a storm.

Ianto shushed Jack's apologies, "I think I heard…" he stopped talking for a second, "Gwen! I swear that's Gwen!" he said excitedly, feeling like a little kid now that he had even a slim chance of surviving this ordeal.

"Really?" asked Jack.

"Even if it's not Gwen, there's definitely someone there. Right now I'm happy with a complete stranger. Hell, if a weevil was going to help me up I'd be happy!"

As suddenly as the wind started it stopped, causing Gwen, Owen and Tosh to fall as the resistance against them standing vanished. Laughing a little they pushed themselves back onto their feet.

"Looks like we've just hit the eye of the storm." reported Tosh as she tapped urgently away on her PDA.

"Lets get this out of the way while we can stand up then shall we? Tosh take your readings then let's get out of here." grumbled Owen, unhappy that there was nothing for him to dissect.

"Hey! Hello! Gwen!" Yelled Ianto desperately as Jack strained to keep the younger man where he was as his lifeline slipped a little more.

Jack grunted as his own branch shifted under the weight of one and a half grown men. "Ianto." He said through clenched teeth.

Gwen spun on the spot. "Ianto?" Maybe she was loosing her mind. He was nowhere to be seen yet she could have sworn she heard him calling her from somewhere nearby. The only place he could possibly be, realisation hit her like a punch to the stomach. "Owen!" she yelled as she ran towards the cliff edge, throwing herself onto the ground to look over the edge.

"What? Is there a cute birdie, or a stuck cat?"


	6. Suddenly Serious

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing here is mine if you recognise it from Torchwood. Which means everything but the plot line really...

**A/N:** Much love to everyone reading, reviewing etc. As always it is much appreciated!  
This is it guys. Turns out I didnt need two chapters after all. Sorry for the slow update but I've got a tone of revision I've been putting off for far too long.

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Suddenly Serious

"Owen, grab a rope and get your arse over here quickly!" yelled Gwen over her shoulder. Reaching down towards the two men, she was inches away from grabbing hold of Ianto's hand, "Hang on guys." she said with a small smile of reassurance.

"What the hell do you think we have been doing?" snapped Jack. He knew Gwen didn't deserve it, at least she'd found them and was working on getting Ianto safe. Another apology to be made later, preferably when both him and Ianto were on solid ground.

For all his joking and arsing about, Owen knew when something was seriously wrong. Putting one and two together, one being the empty SUV, two being the two missing men, he had worked out what the rope was for and hurriedly searched the boot of the SUV.

"Tosh, help me dig out this rope will ya!" he grunted as he dug around under all the paraphernalia in the boot. A kite, two tents and couple of body bags later and Owen was rushing to the cliff edge closely followed by Toshiko.

Ianto released one hand from the root he was clinging to and strained to reach Gwen's outstretched hand, they could almost brush fingertips. Giving up he looked around him for an even remotely sturdy branch, rock or root to hold onto, finding purchase for his fingertips on a small crack as his root gave way, threatening to take him crashing onto the rocks below with it.

Jack drew in a sharp breath as all of Ianto's weight tugged on his arm. The sudden movement had damaged his shoulder, how badly he couldn't be sure but it hurt like hell. "Hurry up will you!" he hissed at a worried Gwen.

Owen finished unravelling the rope and tied a hurried loop in one end before lowering it swiftly towards the stranded couple below. "Shove at least one arm and your head through the loop." He ordered Ianto as he organised Tosh to help him pull from behind. Gwen jumped up and grabbed the rope as Ianto yelled for the team to pull him up.

Ianto was half pulled and half pushed up the cliff face towards the safety of the firm ground above. Upon reaching solid ground he gave himself barely a moment to recover before he had slipped himself out of the rope loop and was lowering it back down towards Jack.

"Same for you Captain." called Owen from further along the rope. "At least one arm and your head then hold on tight."

"What on earth where you doing out here?" asked Gwen as they sheltered behind the bulk of the SUV from the fierce winds while Owen checked them both out.

"Jack decided we needed us time. So brought me out here with a huge kite and had a whale of a time." began Ianto.

Jack flinched slightly as Owen began to gently rotate his injured shoulder, "Then the Rift decided to spoil our fun and nearly send Ianto off for a free parachute lesson. Dragged the two of us to the edge before he could unhook the kite from the harness and you can probably guess the rest." he finished as Owen lowered his arm.

"Well I've got good news and bad news Captain. Good news is that there's nothing seriously wrong with either of you. Friction burns on your hands and you've got torn muscles in your shoulder. Bad news is you're going to have to rest that shoulder until it healed. Normally a good few months but with you that's about a week." declared Owen at the end of his examination. "And yes," he started as Jack opened his mouth to protest, "That does mean an almost complete ban on sex."

Jack's face fell.

Ianto patted his knee gently and lent in close to his ear. "Don't worry sir, I'll be gentle with you."


End file.
